Conflict and Violence: our Approach and Priorities

Armed conflict and violence are increasingly complex, dynamic and protracted. The impacts on civilians are devastating, with millions killed, injured or displaced every year. For too many people around the world, safety and security, economic and political opportunity, and just and lasting peace remain as elusive as ever.

ODI’s work on conflict and its impact on policy and people spans more than 50 years. We engage in high-profile public debates and influence both long-standing and emerging policy agendas, from the World Humanitarian Summit to UN reform. Through high-quality, independent research, analysis and advisory work, we support different actors to develop more coherent and comprehensive efforts to prevent conflict and crisis, mitigate their impacts, and ultimately help states and their citizens achieve longterm peace and stability.

We also aim to shed light on the different experiences of marginalised groups in conflict – including a focus on women and youth – to encourage interventions that are targeted to their particular needs, while acknowledging the crucial roles they can play in peace-building and shaping emerging political settlements.

Our work focuses on five priority areas: responding to conflict; violence and extremism; economic development and investment in fragile states; institution-building in volatile environments; and sustaining peace.